Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi was not born, rather He manifested on 25th November 1941 on the Planet Earth. It is now officially Jashan-e-Riaz (the Manifestation Day of Lord Ra Riaz). Happy Jashan-e-Riaz to all Goharians!

Tuesday, 24 November 2015

I recently had a radio interview. The host was about to ask me, ‘Tell me about this. To a religious person, what is more important: God or his family?’

Journalists have asked terrorists, ‘You go out and blow yourself up. Don't you have feelings about what will happen to your family?

Their reply is, ‘God is more important to me than my family.’

If [the host of the radio show] had asked me this question, I would have told him: to take care of my family is the commandment of God. This question is irrelevant.

God will never put you in a position where you have to choose one out of the two. Family is one thing and God is another thing. Why would God want me to trouble my family? The same God says, ‘If you take care of your family, I will reward you.’

The answer which is coming from terrorists - that God is more important to them than their family - proves the fact that this mindset is not carved by the teachings of the Quran and Bible. This is a manmade doctrine and these are manmade teachings.

The True Teachings and Character of Prophet Mohammad

A Jewish woman would throw trash on Prophet Mohammad as he would pass by her house every day; but Prophet Mohammad did not stop going through that street. He would walk through the street every day and she would throw trash every day; he would simply smile and leave. One day, when he passed her street, he didn't see her. So he asked people, ‘Where has she gone?’ He found out that she is ill. He went to her house and asked, ‘How are you doing? May God give you health. I didn’t see you so I got worried. She cried and said, ‘You are a prophet.’

These are the teachings and this is the character of Prophet Mohammad. And on the other hand, [ISIS] is killing Christians and Jews. They don’t represent Islam. They represent evil.

In that society 1450 years ago, Christians, Jews and atheists all had the same culture. The language as the same and their temperament was the same.

On one occasion, in order to give the message of Islam, Prophet Mohammad invited a group of Jews for dinner. They came and one of them was a mischievous person. He said, ‘Mohammad is inviting us for dinner. I will eat all the food and the rest of the guests will be left without food, Prophet Mohammad would feel humiliated.’

He ate a lot but the food never finished. He ate so much that after eating, he was not able to move from him place. Everybody else left and he was still there. He fell asleep in a small room; at night,he wanted to go to the toilet. His stomach was so full that he couldn’t move. Therefore he relieved himself on the bed and he slept in his own faeces for the rest of the night.

Before the sun rose, the Prophet Mohammad came to him and said to him, ‘Let me help you go to the toilet.’ He helped him relieve himself, removed his clothes covered in faeces and gave him new clothes. He said, ‘Don’t worry. You can go home now.’

Then Prophet Mohammad cleaned the room and the faeces himself. By the morning, everything was pristine. Prophet Mohammad didn’t want anybody to laugh at that man so he did not tell [anybody else there]. This was the character of Prophet Mohammad.

All these messengers like Abraham, Moses, Mohammad and Jesus were all of sublime character. They would never teach their followers to take anybody’s life in the name of God because this is not God’s character.

‘God is love.’ This is what the Bible says. The Quran doesn't say this, but Prophet Mohammad said it.

Since 9/11, the world has changed. An unprecedented hatred has emerged; this is due to what happened on 9/1, the 7/7 London bombing and then many different places that have been targeted by terrorists. If terrorism strikes in Pakistan or if terrorism causes thousands of people to lose their lives in Africa and Southeast Asia, it doesn't really leave any significant impact on people.

If a terrorist activity strikes in Europe, then a wave of hatred goes across all different types of Muslims - whether or not they approve of terrorism.

Sufi Muslims have been known to be very compassionate, kind and tolerant. In relation to dealing with members of other religions they have shown themselves to be adaptive, accommodating and harmonious. However, whenever an Islamist carries out an act of terrorism, then even the Sufi Muslims have to suffer the aftermath and the backlashes. This is a tragedy.

These terrorists who kill innocent people cannot be considered as human beings.

But as a retaliation, if somebody in Canada, the United States of America, France, England or anywhere else in the world targets an innocent Sufi Muslim, causing them to die, then this act of killing an innocent is equal to an act being carried out by ISIS.

You have gone down to their level of brutality because that particular Muslim you pushed onto the railway track was innocent. They didn't do anything nor did they believe in terrorism. If you do something like this, you are telling people that you are just like ISIS. Although you may not part of ISIS, you are doing the same thing that they are.

A debate is going on in the United States of America: does ISIS really have nothing to do with Islam?

Every time an atrocity takes place by Islamists, peaceful Muslims, Sufi Muslims, and law abiding Muslims of different countries condemn the terrorist activities. Their statement has to include one sentence, ‘ISIS is not a Muslim organisation and they are not Muslims.’

If you are not a Muslim and you see what ISIS is doing, you will say to yourself, ‘They are holding the Quran. They are growing beards. They talk about Sharia. They are called the “Islamic State.” How come they are not Muslims?’

In the article, the author said what he could think of as a common man who does not have spiritual knowledge or profound insight into the religion; one who is not well aware of the history of Islam or what happened 1400 years ago. He may have a very limited approach towards understanding this topic.

However, to say, ‘ISIS has nothing to do with Islam,’ is a sentence that needs a lot of explanation.

Although I have used this sentence myself and I have also said that ISIS in reality has nothing to do with Islam, what I said is very profound and technical.

For example, all Muslims go to the mosque and offer prayers. If a Muslim goes to a mosque five times a day to offer prayers and I say, ‘He doesn’t offer prayers,’ people will say, ‘We have seen him offering prayers at the mosque.’ In order to justify my statement, I say, ‘I know he goes to the mosque and offers prayers five times a day. But I also know what Prophet Mohammad said about Salat(prayers).’

‘There is no Salat if the heart is absent from the Salat.’ - Prophet Mohammad

If a person does not have the presence of the heart in Salat, God doesn’t accept it; in the eyes of God, he never offered Salat. His Salat is not qualified to be known as Salat; therefore, technically we can say that he is a non-Musali (one who offers Salat).

‘Destruction is for those who offer Salat and are not aware of the reality of Salat. When they go to the mosque and stand in Salat they are only making a scene; they show off.’

Quran, (107:4-6)

Individuals who offer Salat yet are not aware of reality of Salat are doomed; their religion is destroyed.

I mentioned in the beginning that I have also made a statement such as, ‘ISIS has nothing to do with Islam.’ There are people who say, ‘How come? They are holding the Quran in their hands, they are growing beards. They want to impose Islamic Sharia; they have already occupied a greater part of Syria and Iraq. They have already established an Islamic State. They are doing everything according to the Quran but you say they are not Muslim.’

Without explanation, it remains to be pretty dubious. Oftentimes common people do not seek profound explanation; they simply say, ‘Their inspiration is coming from the Quran and they are doing everything for establishment of Sharia Law.’

The reason I say, ‘They are not Muslim,’ is very technical. They may be Muslims in your eyes; but they are not Muslims in the eyes of Islam or God.

You can safely say ISIS has everything to do with Islam - this is how you understand it. But if you ask the Quran, if you ask God, then you will understand that these individuals do not follow the Quran.

They talk about Islamic Sharia but they do not follow Islamic Sharia.

Most of these ‘warriors of God’ are those who do not even know one verse from the Quran.

A Christian family were fleeing Syria. They were born and bred there; they recited the Bible in Arabic. They were travelling in their car and were stopped by ISIS thugs. The ISIS members asked them, ‘What is your religion?’ The father replied, ‘I am Muslim.’ They asked him to recite the Quran; he recited the Bible and they let him go!

If you apply these technical points that I am talking about on each and every Muslim, whether that Muslim is a terrorist or peace-loving citizen, that person will be screened as non-Muslim. Now it’s easy to say, ‘ISIS has nothing to do with Islam because Islam doesn’t exist.’

This was the technical side. On the other hand, there is a Prophetic Tradition (Hadith) according to which you will have to admit that ISIS is a Muslim organisation. It is a long Hadith but I’ll give you a few sentences.

Prophet Mohammad said, ‘A time will come on my Nation (Ummah) when nothing will be left in Islam for except its name. Nothing will be left in Quran for except the practice of reciting it.’ Prophet Mohammad talks about the mosques of this time. ‘Their mosques will be beautiful but they will be void of guidance. They will recite Quran but the Quran will not go beyond their throats.’

Then, Prophet Mohammad talks about ISIS. He said, ‘Mischief (fitna) will emerge from within Islam.’ This proves that they are Muslim. ISIS is mischief.

Prophet Mohammad said, ‘This mischief will emerge from within Islam and within Islam, this mischief will come to an end.’ This is interesting.

It means that this mischief of ISIS has emerged from Islam and somebody from within Islam will stand up and he will terminate this mischief of ISIS. It is referred to Imam Mehdi (as).

This Prophetic Tradition in particular tells us that ISIS recite the Kalima (Declaration of Faith) and the Quran, though it does not go beyond their throats. Although they are severely misguided, Prophet Mohammad has already mentioned that these are the people who, as mischief, will emerge from within his Ummah. They will be the worst creatures under the sky (Khwarijeen).

This is written on the wall. What is happening now is exactly what the Prophet foretold 1400 years ago.

One of the signs of the end of the world was the fire which would rise from Syria. You can see that fire today.

Prophet Mohammad spoke about the state of Muslims towards the end of the world, saying ‘Nothing will be left in the Quran for except the ritualistic recitation and nothing will be left in Islam for except its name.’

As I mentioned earlier, Islam does not exist. We only have Islam’s name. Everybody is creating stories and declaring the source as Quran. This mischief of Al-Qaeda, Taliban and Daesh (ISIS) is the mischief that Prophet Mohammad had already foretold. The good news is Prophet Mohammad said this mischief would rise from within Islam and it will come to an end within Islam. We are going through this horrific phase of time.

I think we should raise awareness of what was foretold in regards to the events leading to the end of the world. These facts should be known by almost everybody who lives in this world: by Christians, by Jews, by Hindus, etc. so they should have a clear understanding of what’s going on.

Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Last weekend, Messiah Foundation USA participated in the Natural Living Expo in Marlborough, Massachusetts. We set up our exhibit on Saturday morning. From that moment on until the final hours on Sunday evening, we were consistently busy. We gave the message of divine love to many people of different faiths and backgrounds. Even people who identified as atheists appreciated our message. We also gave Invocation of the Heart to a large number of people.

We are in dire need today to promote ideologies of love and peace. Today, we need spirituality and love not religions. We do not need extremism or fanaticism.

Terrorism is the result of fanaticism and extremism.

Those who are carrying out these atrocities all over the world are the ones who follow the wrong interpretation of the religion. Not only this, but at the same time they have entwined their personal agenda and carnal desires with the wrong interpretation of the religion. As a result of this, they have now become a global threat.

The peace of the world is at a greater risk. Innocent people are being killed all over the world and now in Europe as well.

It is not just the government who will take care of this issue. Every single citizen of the world has a role to play. The first and foremost that one is to play today is to be able to recognise the roots of terrorism

You must be aware of the source and motivation from which this brutal ideology of terrorism is emerging.

Terrorism has no religion. Those who are carrying out these atrocities are the people, the master of whom is their own desires and their own evil self.

No religion on earth taught terrorism. The core of every religion is divine love.

When a religion ceases to provide its followers with divine love, that religion does not exist anymore.

Terrorism has been found in almost every religion once the religion has been deprived of the spiritual touch.

The Role of Spirituality Today

Today as we live in fear and uncertainty, I think we should turn to spirituality. Through spiritual knowledge and practice, we should be able to empower our connection with God. We should be able to empower our souls. We should be able to awaken the spiritual love in the chambers of our heart.

It is very easy to say, ‘Love God, love your neighbour,’ but had it been that easy, everybody would have been able to do it.

It is a mystical methodology which will empower your heart with divine love and positive energy. Once your heart becomes the powerhouse of positive energy, you will recognise love. Then whosoever possess divine love in the heart will be friends with you.

You will recognise those also who are looting and plundering innocents and who are carrying out massacre and carnage of innocent people.

The Responsibility of the PublicEvery single individual will have to play a role in combatting the evil ISIS. It is not Islam who promoted terrorism; it is the people who claim to represent Islam; however, they do not follow Islam.

Islam is not a threat; what threatens the global peace today is the presence of ISIS and likewise organisations who promote terrorism.

At the same time, it is not just ISIS that the world communities will have to fight against. Somebody is working behind the walls who is the sponsor that supports ISIS and all other terrorist organisations in the world financially, ideologically and morally.

I was tweeting about the Paris Attacks. I was completely taken aback when I saw that many Twitter IDs were celebrating the massacre of innocent human beings. They are those who support terrorists.

You have to remain vigilant. You must know who is living next door. You must know who you are with. You should know what they practise and what their belief system is.

If you sit at home quietly and you take it for granted that the government will do something about it, then I am afraid that one day, you will become a target.

Let the government do what the government is doing, but as an individual you will have to participate in at least recognising these animals, these enemies of society and humanity.

The Role of the Government

One of the people who attacked on Paris was a French boy who recently was released from jail. In the jail, he was radicalised.

We have to see what is going in prisons in France and other countries of Europe.

We have to watch out for anyone who may be preaching hatred in the prisons.

We have to keep an eye on all the inmates in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada. We need to know what is happening in the mosques and in other places of worship.

We have to stop this ideology of hate preaching. This ideology of hate preaching turns into radicalisation.

There must be a ban on hate preaching [and we must understand what constitutes as hate preaching].

Somebody may talk about the Quran and Ahadith and say, ‘We are not hate preaching, we are simply propagating our religion.’ But we must infiltrate somebody who knows the religion.

We need someone who can tell [those unfamiliar with Islam] whether or not, under the banner of the religion, the interpretation of the Quran being given to people is that of radicalisation.

In order to stop brutal killing of innocent people all over the world, the world leaders must sit together come up with a global strategy. The entire community should stand united and combat the evil ISIS.

Commenting on subjects is not enough. Individuals from around the world need to get involved. Getting involved does not require from one to come out with a weapon on the street and attack your enemies.

The first enemy is ignorance. When you know about your enemy, you can prepare yourself against them.

The problem of the world today is people do not know the roots of ISIS or terrorism. People generalise and say, ‘All Muslims are terrorists.’ But this is not true.

I would like to say very specifically: no Muslim is a terrorist. These terrorists are faking their identity. You know them to be Muslims; however, they are not Muslims. They have distorted the image of Islam.

The Quran equates one murder to elimination of the whole of humanity.

Committing suicide is strictly prohibited in Islam. It is not rocket science to comprehend whether or not suicide bombing is allowed in Islam.

According to Prophet Mohammad, ‘One who commits suicide, all his good deeds are wasted and he is destined to enter into hellfire.’

I cannot understand how on Earth these individuals who are waging a war against innocent human beings come up with an idea of declaring a prohibited act to be a gateway to heaven.

Even if you were a Companion of the Prophet himself and you fought for protection of the religion, however in the end if you committed suicide, all your deeds are wasted. Your association with the Prophet will be greatly ignored and you will be paving your way to hellfire.

When suicide is prohibited in Islam, how can suicide bombing be allowed or rewarding? These individuals, under the banner of Islam, are making fools out of people by hammering in their brains an ideology based on lust, carnal desires and hunger for power.

When they tell them, ‘If you blow up yourself, there are 70 damsels waiting for you in paradise,’ they are blaspheming the religion. They are distorting the words of God and the Traditions of the Prophet.

If you blow up yourself and cause others to die with you, you enter into hellfire, not into heaven. Don’t think 70 damsels are waiting for you. Millions of angels are waiting for you so that they can punish and torment you.

This is absolutely a misleading ideology. What is prohibited in Islam is now being regarded as rewarding and a gateway to heaven. This is pitiful.

Many Muslims in France are coming forward and condemning the attacks. It is a good gesture. However, I would request Muslims in the United Kingdom also to do the same. Become part of British society.

Come forward. They should not just condemn this brutal act of terrorism but ISIS; at they need to show their solidarity with British people. They are living on this land; they must treat this land as their heaven!

According to a Tradition of Prophet Mohammad, ‘Love for your country is part of your faith (emaan).’

I live in England. Love for England should be part of my faith; if someone else lives in Canada, love for Canada should be part of their faith. It being part of your faith does not mean you are going to worship your country.

It means you are loyal to your country and you will do everything to ensure your country is well protected by you.

All Muslims who live in the United Kingdom should come forward show their solidarity. This is how they are going to integrate into British society.

You are well integrated into British society when a white Scottish man, Welshman or white Englishman is free to talk to you and is not intimidated by your presence.

If somebody is intimidated by your presence, it simply means you are not integrated into British society. Follow your religion; if you don’t want to consume alcohol or eat pork, that is not a problem. These things do not stop you from becoming part of British society.

I do not drink alcohol and I do not eat pork but I love England. I will do everything to protect this country. I am morally, financially indebted to the country. It is because of British citizenship that I was able to move in the world freely. I should be grateful to the state of the United Kingdom, we should be grateful. We should pay our homage.

All these Muslims who live in this country should come forward, condemn this act, condemn ISIS. Say how you feel about ISIS. Talk about how bad they are, how ugly they are, how brutal and how anti-Islam they are.

This must be done to be seen so that the youth should get a clear message that ISIS is evil and they should not become part of this brutal, evil organisation.

Saturday, 14 November 2015

It is so painful to hear that at least 60 innocent people were killed in Paris tonight in a terrorist attack! The world leaders had better form an alliance now and finish ISIS just as back in 2001, after 9/11, an alliance was formed to attack and fight Taliban. The world community has to take some stern and quick measures to finish ISIS now.

We stand with the French nation today at a great loss of innocent lives!

Thursday, 12 November 2015

Only the Prophet Adam Safi Allah and the Prophet Mohammad had been Active Prophets in terms of parting both exterior and interior knowledge and grace to the followings. The rest of the Prophets were not as spiritually active as them.

Islam has had the greatest spiritual system within the religion and it is thanks to this spiritual system that Islam had been rightly intact with the guidelines of the Prophet Mohammad. Ever since this spiritual system became inactive, Islam collapsed and fell into ditch of sectarianism, fanaticism, extremism and now hijacked by terrorists.

Divine energy that is generated by an enlightened heart makes a bridge between man and God. This is what is known to be guidance and The Straight Path. Those who either do not practise spirituality or reject it fail to avail guidance. They are left stranded only to be misled by the Devil.

No religion can survive without a valid spiritual system.

A religion is not just about obtaining paradise; rather it is to provide its followers with a system through which they may be connected with God and that they become truly Godly!

Since spiritual system in all the religions has been destroyed, hence they have been deprived of obtaining connection with God.

God loves all his creation but those who are not connected to God fail to understand this truth; they perceive they are the best ones and nobody is equal of them. This gave rise to intolerance and fanaticism.

If you don’t practise spirituality, you are at a great risk of falling prey to fanaticism, extremism, hate crimes and terrorism!

Messiah Foundation USA is pleased to announce our participation in the upcoming 9th Annual Natural Living Expo at the Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The expo will be held on November 14-15, 2015 and more than 8 500 people are expected to attend.

Jashan-e-Riaz, the 25th of November, is the day of His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi’s advent in this world. To show our thanksgivings for the bounty and blessings of His Divine Eminence, Goharians celebrate this day every year. We wish you all a Happy Jashan-e-Riaz. May you obtain HDE Gohar Shahi’s special blessings on this wonderful occasion!

During these festive days, we clean and decorate our homes. We light up the night and celebrate the prevalence of good over evil. We mark the victory of knowledge over ignorance. The spiritual significance of this festival cannot be disputed.